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Post by Pepa on Oct 6, 2018 13:23:13 GMT -5
Konats. A beautiful planet, largely untouched by the ravages of true industrialisation. What little industry existed ran on magic and weight of hands, rather than the belching factories and smokestacks so endemic to other places in the galaxy. It was honestly lovely to behold, and perhaps it was destined to remain that way. Truthfully, Eschalot would never have come to this backwater under ordinary circumstances. She was well aware of the rumours that flowed through the Saiyan Elite about Konats and the strange abilities practiced there. She didn’t really believe in magic; that was the kind of superstitious nonsense that made a person soft in the head… … but that didn’t mean she was eager to discover what all the fuss was about for herself. No, there were certain mysteries out there in the Galaxy that could stay hidden under their respective rocks, as far as she was concerned. The Frypan could not have looked more out of place in such idyllic surrounds, descending through the atmosphere in its usual fashion. The ship was large, squat, and rust-brown across the entire exterior. It descended through the clear blue sky as though on a pillar of flame; heat burst across the outside of the ship in a jagged corona and the whole ship rattled and shook in a disconcerting fashion as she carefully guided it down through the air and into a clearing near her target position. She patted the console fondly after the machine settled with an iron-lunged groan. “It's okay, Fry, we’re here. You’ll be feeling better in no time.”
A hatch in the roof of the ship opened, and Eschalot tapped her wrist-mounted computer as she rose neatly up through it. The display fizzed and burped a few times, and then showed the radar scan which had guided her to this place. A white diamond two clicks into the forest. It didn’t take her long to head out over the terrain, keeping her power to a respectable, but not too absurd, level as she went. The last thing she wanted was people presuming that she’d come as part of an invasion force or something ridiculous. Instead, she was confronted with a sprawling mass of trees and plant life which thoroughly obscured her view of the ground… until the ruins opened up beneath her. Ancient stonework in some ornate style she didn’t recognise, all based around a deep cylindrical stairwell cut in a mad corkscrew straight down into the earth. She checked the display. Then she checked it again. There was no mistaking it. The signal was coming from down there. She sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose firmly, rubbing.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” She addressed the world at large. “Buried in an ancient tomb on a ‘magic’ world? Someone, somewhere, is having a pretty good laugh right about now, I just know it.”
(ETA: Current PL is suppressed to 10,000. 484 Words Andrew C. Creed ) |
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Post by Andrew C. Creed on Oct 7, 2018 21:35:34 GMT -5
The sun stood bright over Konats. It had been a while since Gallius had seen such a nice day, usually they were filled with storms and darkness. Perhaps spring had finally ended. The bright sunlight shone off the Knight’s armor like a beacon. He had no care for stealth at this point. If some brigand wished to fight him, so be it. Gallius would hold a hand over his Great helm’s eye slits to gain a clear view of the surrounding area. The natives had told him of a ancient artifact, like many before. Gallius grinned slightly under his helmet. It was nice to finally have a people who he could befriend. These folk seemed to be bullied by every such manner of Vagabond and dark creature. Gallius was happy to lend them a helping hand. In return they assisted him with his quest. Once this was all over, The Knight had no doubt that his people and the Konatsians would get along greatly. After about twenty minutes of searching, Gallius had finally found the temple. Or at least the grove which the Konatsians had said it was in. To gain a better sight of things, the knight would raise his hand, causing a lightning bolt to strike mere feet away. As the flash faded a Golden Pegasus would be standing as beautiful and graceful as ever. His trusty steed, Aureum. Gallius would quickly hop on and take to the sky. Hopefully this would be a peaceful artifact hunt. The last two… Well, at least he made a friend on his last hunt. Gallius sighed and looked up just in time to see a giant hunk of metal careening towards him. Oh no, he was caree- Gallius would crash head first into the scrappy ship. His steed had gone etheral and continued on forward, as if to punish the knight for his absent mindedness. Gallius would sit up from the ground, eyes golden out of anger and confusion. He would stand and walk over to the hunk of metal. Gallius gave it a good kick for blocking his path before sighing and turning to survey the area. He saw something that surprised him. Atop the hunk of metal was a Female wearing some sort of strange armor. Her legs and arms were completely uncovered. What a idiotic design. “Salve frend! I be seeken an Artfise of grate importense. It be residen in a temple of sorts. Haf you happened upon such a plase?” She seemed losted. Perhaps a traveler seeking treasures. Word Count: 421 Pepa
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Post by Pepa on Oct 8, 2018 1:15:11 GMT -5
The sound of something metal impacting her ship made Eschalot’s eye twitch. If the locals were trying to shoot it with crossbows or something ridiculous like that, she was going to have to have a very stern word with them. Perhaps it was a good thing that she’d returned back to the ship to fetch her lantern after all.
She walked over to the side of the ship, in time to see Gallius deliver a kick to it. Okay, not a crossbow bolt, they were apparently throwing men at her ship instead. She folded her arms beneath her chest as she regarded the man and his heavily-armoured form with fire blazing in her eyes.
“OI! Don’t kick my ship, or I’ll kick you!”
The warning given, she considered him more closely. The helmet restricted his view terribly, and with all that metal in the way, there was no way he could retain a full degree of mobility and movement. It was absurd, how impractical these primitives could be.
She would have thought it was because he was weak and needed the minimal protection metal offered against wildlife and falling rocks – but she could feel a very substantial power level coming from within that armour. She rose a little higher up, maintaining her scrutiny on the powerful figure as she went. What was that dialect he was speaking? It was like listening to some bad historical drama. Was he speaking Galactic Common from ten thousand years ago or something?
“A temple?” She repeated, in her far less ornate drawl. The woman hung casually in the air, making sure her power remained firmly under control. He might have annoyed her a little with his apparent crash into her precious ship, but she didn’t want to go stirring up trouble with the locals, and it seemed likely that this guy was going to be pretty important locally with that kind of power at his command.
So instead, she shrugged her shoulders. “There’s a bunch of old ruins not far from here. My ship detected material suitable for repairs to the magnatomic wave disperser, should help make sure I don’t set fire to everything on re-entry going forward. I was just about to head down there and investigate myself, if you want to join me?”
The offer was made casually, as she tied her lantern to her waist on a loose sash of bright red material, and then turned, beckoning him with a wave to follow her as she took off into the sky. She hadn’t noticed the ethereal Pegasus, it seems, and just assumed that anyone with any kind of substantial power level would be able to fly with her. It wasn’t like she was going fast.
(Word Count: 463)
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Post by Andrew C. Creed on Oct 8, 2018 18:44:55 GMT -5
Gallius would look at the hunk of metal in confusion. “Thys be a shyp? Tis just a hunk of steel” The knight would turn to see the woman, only to find her vanished. After a short while of searching, he finally spotted her floating mid air. He knew of various Konatsians who could produce the same feats yet something was odd about this. There had been no spells spoken, no tomes floating nearby. This woman must of been a rather powerful magician to do something like this. He would need to keep his guard up. “Aye, me frends nereby told me of a tempel” Even her accent was strange. Nothing like the posh mannerisms of the Konatsians. It almost sounded similar to how his people spoke, albeit with much less polish. “I dun no wat ye jus describd, but if ye goen Tempel diven I wuld be happy to joyn ye!” He said plainly. Gallius had no clue what this “Magnavoxic Wave Depressor” was, but he would be glad to have an ally. Gallius would snap, forcing his steed back to him with a bright flash of lightning. He would turn to the pegasus with anger in his eyes. “Best ye warn me ya dam beest!” The mount would neigh before turning away from him. Gallius would quickly hop on and take to the air after the woman. It took a few seconds for Gallius to catch up with the woman. He would ride parallel to her, turning to strike up a conversation. “Ye hafen told me yer naym. Less ye wysh to be called ‘Fare Mayden’ for the res of thys venture, I sajest we at leas lern nayms. I be Gallius, Profet of Manus, Blud of Titanius. Pleesed to meet ye” He would shout over the roaring winds. The Temple couldn’t be too far now, though the Konatsians did like burying their temples. Something about protecting them from the heavy downpours. The knight awaited a response eagerly. The ground seemed to break up into various stone squares and lines. These were obviously not natural formations. Like much of the ancient Konatsian structures, the stone was smooth as if Polished. It would seem the Konatsians of old had a certain knack for masonry, a craft which had long been forgotten. Various runes with cool-colored tints lined the stonework in neat lines. Staring at them brought Gallius a sense of wonderment. It was as if the stories of their past were being whispered to him. Gallius pulled the reins on his mount, causing it to angle downwards for a landing. He would wave down his ally before landing rather gracefully near a ebony-black stone pillar. The knight hopped off his steed, it bursting in a bright flash. Returning to the Realm of Manus where it may rest. Gallius unbuckled the strap holding his helmet down, removing it so he could gain a better look at the runes. His silver hair contrasted his glowing golden eyes, which shone ever so brighter as he walked forward. He would snap the helmet to his belt. “I belif we haf fownd the Tempel!” He shouted. Word Count: 526/947 Pepa
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Post by Pepa on Oct 9, 2018 3:02:13 GMT -5
“Yes.” Eschalot replied coolly, “It is a ship. The Frypan might not look like much, but it has stood up to every challenge I’ve asked it to, and then some. Show some respect.” As Gallius took to the air on the back of his mount, she just shook her head. That seemed like a lot of effort, carting around some winged animal so that he could fly. Why wouldn’t he just fly under his own power like a proper warrior? But everyone had their quirks. The fact that he preferred some smelly beast to his own power was probably not too different to her own fondness of The Frypan… no, wait, that’s ridiculous. The Frypan was an awesome vessel. Far better than something that probably pooped everywhere.
“Eschalot. I ain't no Maiden, that's for sure.” She replied by way of introduction, after his elaborate introduction. She didn’t explain further, or talk about her own allegiances. Saiyans had a well-deserved bad reputation, in her view, though if he knew anything about them, he’d probably know it from her armour. She saw no reason to offer anything up without being asked. She was also having just a little trouble picking up the specifics of what he was saying. She could get the broad strokes, but she got the idea that trying to have a prolonged conversation was just going to give her a headache. Gallius’ wonder at the historic monument was mirrored perfectly by Eschalot’s profound disinterest. As he stopped near one of the stone obelisks, she set herself down by the stairway she had spied earlier. Alighting atop it, she turned her lantern on, and allowed the bright light to spill down into the circular entrance – one which would, no doubt, reveal all manner of secrets soon enough. She didn’t pay any real attention to the rest of the decoration, seeing it all as just… superfluous. “Why would you bother building something like this?” She asked, throwing the question out there to the world, really, but giving an askance look to the man now that he had removed his helmet. “Seems like a lot of effort to go through, just to leave it to be abandoned. The people who made this place must have had way too much time on their hands. Maybe they just didn’t have access to Galactic TV.”It was a joke, but one which she suspected would fall flat almost as soon as she said it. Still, she wasn’t going to worry about that too much. As Gallius stopped to admire the pretty carvings – which she was absolutely certain couldn’t hold any relevant information – she strode forwards to make her way down into the stairway. Which was when the heat rune, which Gallius may well see warnings of in the obelisk, activated and filled the stairwell with fire and an almighty PHWOOMPH of flame. (487 words - total 1434) Andrew C. Creed
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Post by Andrew C. Creed on Oct 10, 2018 23:41:18 GMT -5
The runed obelisk would begin to give off a soft hum as he edged closer to it. The runic symbols would glow a sapphire blue, as if lighting on fire. The blue runes would begin to shift into a language he could actually understand. It was amazing. Gallius would scan over the Obelisk as Eschalot spoke loudly. “The Konatsian’s be an anchent rase. Wen thay bilt thys, twas not expected fer it to crumbel to the ages” The runes seemed to tell of an ancient Wizard of great power. But due to his hubris, the wizard would find himself as a poor beggar. The Four Failings of Feranis Fiel… “The great Wizard wished for an equally great abode. The gods, who held the sun, were said to have the greatest in all the realm. Feranis flew up as high as he could to the burning palace. But upon touching it’s glorious door, was burnt and sent back to the soil below. For no mortal of any power could ever hope to be a god. The hand turned to ash, taking away the wizard’s ability to wield any spell book…”
The Runes would end there. Perhaps the rest of the tale could be found deeper within. Gallius would look up to see Eschalot strolling into the Temple Entrance. Gallius would quickly catch up. “I haf a queshion. Wat be a TV?” He would ask sincerely as the Saiyan walked down the stairs. The staircase seemed to give off a blue tint as he entered, runes floated just above the Temple walls. Many of which appeared to be… “Wait!” Gallius shouted, quickly running down the stairs to push Eschalot off the flaming death trap. He had managed to push her just far enough so she could escape the inferno, he was not so lucky. The knight was lit ablaze, running forward and quickly rolling on the ground to put himself out. He managed to escape with only a few minor burns, but if he had stayed any longer he might of been dead for sure. Gallius would sit against one of the walls to catch his breath. “Dam thys deth traps!” He would turn to Eschalot. “Ar ye in gud helth? I culdnt tale if I got ye from that inferno in tyme” Gallius would give a quick glance across the room, seeing more of the blue runes. “Cant ya see the warnen runes?”
Word Count: 408/1355 Pepa
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Post by Pepa on Oct 11, 2018 5:18:25 GMT -5
The sudden impact with her back has Eschalot’s teeth grinding together. As she stumbled forwards, the woman ground her foot into the floor, and rounded on the Knight. “Hey! What’s the big idea?” She demanded, only to witness the eruption of fire which surrounds the man. She cooled off a little… but not an awful lot, as he inquired after her health.
The Saiyan exhaled long and slow, and allowed her power to flow out of her. No longer holding herself back, the aura of power around the woman grew almost oppressively. She released it in a measured manner, adding a sensation like static; like the tingle of ozone just after lightning struck, rather than a more dramatic display of her inherent prowess. If she was going to be set on fire, she was going to have her full capabilities on hand to defend herself – and she wasn’t going to let him knock her around again. The question about television? That was entirely ignored – something to be discussed later, perhaps. If she cared to.
“No. I can’t see the runes.” She said, her voice flat. “If this is the ‘magic’ that people around here are supposed to be big into, though, I’m not impressed. It’ll take more than a little fire to toast me!”
There was definitely a measure of frustration in that last statement. Being ‘saved’ by someone else was not something she was either used to, or appreciated in the least. She was supposed to be the one strong enough to stand against danger, not the one pushed out of it. One hand clenched into a fist as she raised it up, and huffed.
“If they don’t want us going down their stairs, they shouldn’t have dug them in such a neat pattern. Let’s see what else they’ve got! Try to keep up.”
And with that, the woman burst from the ground, and dove down the centre of the stairwell. Stones rushed past to either side of her as she plunged down into the ground at breakneck speed, leaving runes to all sides of her to erupt and burst in helpless gouts of fire and lightning, spells crackling past the space she had been mere moments before – but she is fast, and the traps can only strike where she used to be, not where she was plunging headlong into.
That is, until she struck the bottom of the inverted tower, fist smashing cobblestones into dust as she arrested her fall and landed in a braced crouch, before an ominous-looking iron door.
(Wordcount: 433 / 1867)
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Post by Andrew C. Creed on Oct 12, 2018 21:47:54 GMT -5
“I-er-wait!” Gallius would shout as the saiyan burst forward. Various trapped would be set off in her angered wake, spewing various elemental forces about the halls. He would give a defeated sigh before slowly walking forward. He took it this woman had never done a temple dive before. “Thys mayden shalt be the deth of me…” He would mutter under his breath as he continued walking. Eventually he would reach her just in time to see her loud plummet to the floor. Gallius would walk up and offer her a hand, noticing the large Iron door which lit up like the night sky. “Hmmm. If thees symbols be corect…” He would trail off before tapping some of the runes on the door. Too Eschalot it would appear as if he were randomly tapping on the Iron for no reason. “Byrning Palas… Loss an arm… Ryte if me memory serves correct…” After about a minute of tapping the door would finally shudder and slowly split open. “Onse moar into the breech me frend” He would say to Eschalot before walking in. The interior of the temple was overgrown heavily with vines and weeds. A large tree seemed to be the only thing supporting the decrepit ceiling. Underneath the fauna sat ancient stonework. It would seem to be some sort of Polish marble, given it’s vibrant white color. In the center of the room sat a strange ornate crystal which levitated over a glowing blue well. Runes only visible to Gallius circled the Crystal, most translated into warning signs saying to go no further. “Be careful Eshalot, thys culd be a trap. Er somethen even worse…” Gallius would form a Spear in his right hand and unclip his shield. The room was thankfully large enough for polearm combat. Upon reaching the Crystal, Gallius would lower his shield and slowly look into the pool. He saw a reflection, but not his own. At least it didn’t seem to be… The figure would have a dark metal helmet on with long slits for ventilation. A large hole sat in the center of it’s helmet. Fresh blood adorned the helmet. Gallius would turn quickly, wide eyed at the sight. “Mayhaps it be best fer our helth to leev. Thys tempel dosent seem...ryte” He would state in as serious a tone as he could muster. Suddenly the crystal would begin to brighten, giving off a beautiful sapphire glow. Word Count: 409/1764 Pepa
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Post by Pepa on Oct 14, 2018 3:17:11 GMT -5
Eschalot cracked her neck as Gallius opened the door, taking some time to work the ache and strain out of her muscles. When the crystal was revealed, Eschalot’s eyebrow shot up – and the device on her arm beeped at her. She let the armoured figure go first, since he seemed to want to take the lead and he did seem to understand the strange logic in this place better than she did, but when he turned and said they should leave? She just shook her head.
“Sorry, no can do.” She said, pointing – not at the crystal, but at the well over which it hovered. “My scanner is saying the material I need is down there. It is probably being used to make this giant hunk of rock float.”
She stepped forwards, then, apparently completely ignorant to the runes and to the figure reflected in the crystal. She didn’t pay it much mind as she peered down into the well. It was hard to see too far in the darkness and gloom, but there was definitely something down there, and it didn’t look like water. She wasn’t sure how these primitives were using the energy-dispersing metals she needed, but she was more certain by the moment that she’d find what she needed down there, one way or another.
As she considered how she was going to get down there with this giant floating crystal in the way, the problem – in some senses of the word – solved itself. The enormous hunk of rock cracked like an egg, cobwebbing streaks spattering its surface as the ancient warrior trapped within tore itself free. The figure was wreathed in bloody red light, clad all over in dark black armour almost a parody of the noble Knight’s – and beneath that, just bones, no flesh to cover the decayed formed.
“By what ryght doth thee disturb thee slumbyr of Fenaris the Thrice-Cursed?”
The figure’s voice was as cold and unfeeling as the grave, an enormous battleaxe, rusted and pitted by time to the point where it was more cudgel than blade, drew across its back with a squeal of metal on metal as it freed itself from the crystal which had been its tomb.
Apparently, Eschalot could see that, as she raised an eyebrow at the tall, lumbering, armoured figure – the crystal shards falling around the chamber like sharp snowfall.
“Does this count as a trap?” She asked her companion, with a faint smirk, “It seems like it might be a trap.”
Wordcount: 423 / 2290
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Post by Andrew C. Creed on Oct 14, 2018 21:18:38 GMT -5
The knight’s eyes would widen as the large figure surfaced from whatever hell it had been contained in. Gallius would quickly form a spear and throw it at the creature, hoping to distract it so Eschalot could get in a few good shots. The spear shattered upon impact, yet the creatures seemed entirely outraged by such an action. It would turn it’s skeletal form towards Gallius and raise a hand. “Suffer for your insolense!” It sheriked, launching a beam of pure darkness at the knight. Instinively he rose his shield to deflect it, but it simply went through and struck him in the chest. Gallius would stumble slightly, dropping his shield and falling to his knees. He would begin to cough up glowing gold blood which shizzled as it impacted the ground. His face would contort into pain and confusion as he felt his very soul slowly blackening, as if being burned in a hellish inferno. As pain wracked his body, something much more sinister began to surround him. Figments of his mind which Eschalot could not see, yet they caused him more harm than any physical attack could. He saw every bloody conflict he had once been in. Slowly they played around him as if he was back in those horrid times. The fields of dead, sinking into the blood soaked mud below. The blood still fresh on his hands. Gallius would simply sit there, staring at his gauntlets with wide eyes. The creature would stomp on the ground and begin to cackle. The knight’s suffering was delightful. Watching such a spectacular display of mind breaking events was almost euphoric after the eons of darkness. Let these mortals suffer, their pain would simply give him power. The Lich’s attention seemed entirely on Gallius, leaving him fully open to any sort of attack which Eschalot could throw. Whether it would actually hurt the lich was yet to be known. Word Count: 325/2089 Pepa |
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Post by Pepa on Oct 15, 2018 3:48:34 GMT -5
“On balance, this probably falls into the ‘even worse’ category, huh?”
Eschalot’s drawl sounded relaxed, but in truth the Saiyan was anything but. The energy blast clearly had some sort of strange property to it to phase through Gallius’ shield rather than punch into it. She was starting to get the message – these guys, however primitive they might be, could clearly use energy in some particularly strange ways that she wasn’t familiar with. She couldn’t afford to let her guard down. Hopefully, the gold blood wasn’t a precursor to Gallius bleeding out – she’d feel bad about that. But, she couldn’t concern herself too much with his wellbeing right now, as the malevolent, skeletal figure started to turn towards her. Of course, she hadn’t been idle in the interim. “KIYAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Incandescent blue fire roared into life around Eschalot as she drew deeper into her reserves, summoning the full extent of her power to her. She might not have the finesse that this ancient and storied race had, but she was a Saiyan Elite. When it came to quantity, there was no species in the galaxy that could hope to stand against her! The entire temple shook, crystal shards rising to surround her as she ground her teeth together. Reflecting the intense glow of the summoned energy, the sparkling fragments hovered in the air as the monstrous creature raised its hand to repeat the attack it had just unleashed against her comrade. If Gallius could even see her through the fog of his own nightmares, he might fear that she had waited too long and left herself open. Not so. “DIE, INTERLOPER!”The dark command fell on deaf ears as Eschalot seemed almost to teleport. Kicking from the ground, she was behind the monster before the beam of anti-light had fully travelled to where she had been. The impact of her fist against the fragile, decrepit figure didn’t so much damage him, as cause him to explode. Whatever ancient magics had been holding the Thrice-Cursed together were, apparently, focused more on ensuring his longevity and power than his survival. Perhaps the mages simply had no understanding of the kind of damage that could be inflicted by a master of Ki. Whatever the case, whilst Gallius might have felt her approach to dealing with magic was… inelegant, there is no denying its effectiveness as the bony figure was turned into a cloud of gently-expanding particles. The magic that had been clouding the Knight’s mind fizzled out along with the monster’s dying wail. She turned, then, and offered her hand to the fallen man. “Well. That was dramatic. You okay there, buddy, or do you need some healing? I’ve got some S-extract if you need it.”
(Wordcount: 463 / 2753 Andrew C. Creed)
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Post by Andrew C. Creed on Oct 17, 2018 19:21:11 GMT -5
It felt as if he was shrouded in pure darkness. Everything had gone silent, as if someone had finally silenced the horrid machinations of insanity. Gallius slowly looked up to see something in the distance. He had felt something like this before, when he was fighting the Cultists with Amatrincia. It was different though, much too foreboding. The figure slowly walked towards Gallius, a loud screeching sound following in its wake. Something compelled Gallius to look down as it finally reached him. He couldn’t get any details aside from the figure’s heavily armored Sabatons. A cold force would press against his head, as if steel. “Manus will never forgive you”
Gallius would hop up and form a large sword, swinging it at Eschalot. He managed to stop just short of hitting her. The sword would slowly dissipate as he fell back to the ground, holding his head. “I didn meen to-” He would cut himself off and look up at Eschalot. “Forgiv me, Eshalot. Me senses desivd me…” Gallius stood up, brushing the dirt from his Surcoat. At least it wasn’t destroyed this time. “Me helth be fyne. I shalt wayte outsyde for ye. Gon get wat ye need” He would state plainly before quickly walking towards the exit. Word Count: 218/2307 Pepa
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Post by Pepa on Oct 18, 2018 11:55:37 GMT -5
Eschalot reacted on pure instinct, stepping into the arc of the massive sword, her fist leading the way – for a hair-raising moment, it looked like she was going to plunge her fist through Gallius’ breastplate just as he brought his blade down upon her shoulder. Thankfully for them both, the moment passed. Her warrior’s instincts were sharp enough that she drew back before the moment of impact, as he brought his weapon back under control as well. “Sure.” She said, keeping her voice carefully level as she brushed her fingers back through her hair, straightening, as though this whole situation was one with which she was entirely comfortable. “You do that. I’ll be with you in a moment.”It didn’t take long. Descending down into the well, her computer beeped and burped until, at last, she came to what she was seeking. It looked for all the world like just a part of the brickwork, but as she seized it and dragged it out, it was in fact a sizeable hoop of dull black metal embedded into the ‘well’. As she drew it back out with her to the surface, she reflected on the fact that it didn’t seem to be a part, specifically, of any of the ornate designs. Its surface was not inlaid with the runes or decorations that seemed popular with the rest of the structure. Perhaps its presence was mere… coincidence? Or perhaps the architects had simply used what metal they had available to reinforce the lower level, with no knowledge of the heat-directive properties that made it so valuable in space travel. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt as she alighted next to Gallius, though. The man had seemed so excited to find the temple when they’d first discussed it. Now he seemed broken and defeated, and she honestly had not the faintest idea why. “Are you sure you don’t want to explore the rest?” She asked, leaning on her expansive hoop of expensive, rare material. “I’ve got my treasure, but it feels like you’re leaving empty-handed.”(Wordcount: 354 / 3108 Andrew C. Creed) |
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Post by Andrew C. Creed on Oct 22, 2018 16:34:29 GMT -5
Gallius had found a decent sized rock to seat himself on. The knight simply looked forward with a blank look in his eyes. He was forced to relive the horrors of his past once more. Since he was the age of 16, warfare had been all he knew. Being a noble child meant serving as a knight. Three major battles and dozen of skirmishes. Every kill was recounted, in every bloody detail. The lance piercing men’s hearts, their agonizing screams for Manus and their loved ones. He never heeded it mind until he was 18, and discovered he had the blessing of Manus. After that things would only get bloodier. They trained him to be a killing machine, like all Knights of Manus. At that point it seemed chivalry on the battlefield was lost on his brethren. But they were still his family. Now they were all dead. Gallius turned to see Eschalot walking towards him. She had a scowl drawn across her face, it seemed to be her default expression. She asked him of whether he wanted to go back, to continue searching for artifacts. No, he didn’t. He wanted to go back to the Konatsian villagers, he wanted to go help them some more, anything to keep his mind occupied from this. Maybe he should give up on his people once and for all. Perhaps they deserved what they got. He could settle down, maybe marry a Konatsian and live a nice life as a farmer… “Nay, it be me pleshure ta help ya in yer quest. But thys venture be over fer me” He would stand and hold a hand to the heavens, causing a lightning bolt to strike next to him and summoning his steed. “Ye savd me lyfe. I thaynk ye fer that. Mayhaps we shalt meet agayne one day. An I shall repay the faver” The knight hopped onto his steed and put on his winged Great Helm. “Manus protect ye, Eshalot” With a tug of the reins the two would shoot into the sky and eventually disappear over the horizon. Word Count: 374/2684 Pepa
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